2012.03.29 | Live Show: David Choi Celebrates Birthday at Jammin Java

March 22, 2012 | Posted By: Liem Nguyen

Singer/Songwriter, David Choi, from Los Angeles has come to Jammin Java to perform three times already, and this time would mark his fourth time coming to the venue. What makes this show with David so special at Jammin Java is that us fans were able to help celebrate his 26th birthday. This was the first time he has ever toured on his birthday and to see him perform live on his birthday was really great. It is also the first time David went on tour with a full band to give a totally different spin to his music. During David's Forever and Ever tour, he is promoting his third album under the same name.

Background

This is the second time for me to go see David perform live at his shows. The first time, I saw him was two years ago was when he toured to promote the release of his second album called "By My Side" album. You can see my blog write up from that By My Side Tour show here, and it includes pictures and video from the show too. I found out about David's fourth return to the Jammin Java show three months before his show in March. I bought the tickets to his show right away and was once again ready to see him perform live.

Pre-Show

On the day of the show, I decided to drive to the Dunn Loring/Merrifield Metro station to take the train to work because it was more convenient and closer to the venue. I drove into the Metro station and arrived at about 8:40am and soon realized they shutdown half of the parking lot to build a garage, so the parking was already full when I got there. Luckily, there was one unmarked parking where some cars also parked in, so I risked getting a parking ticket and parked there.

I left work exactly 5pm to take the train back to the station and rushed to get to my car hoping that I didn't get a ticket nor get towed. Once I got to my car, I was pretty relieved that I didn't get a ticket, and my car was still there.

I arrived at Jammin Java a little before 6pm and hoped that there wasn't a line, so I could get a good seat. I was the second person in line and completely surprised. I thought that there would already be a line outside. Half an hour passed and Mei, the door lady, came out and let us know that we don't have to wait outside and can go inside to wait in the lobby. I'm glad they allow us to wait in the lobby now because it was pretty hot that day. Last time I was at the venue was back a month ago. A lot has changed to the venue to make it look more like a legit venue. They had the new lobby bar and a lobby TV that shows the stage. It is definitely nicer feel to the venue.
While I was waiting in the lobby of the venue, I ran into someone I was not expecting. Actually, I wasn't even too sure I saw the right person at all. She just looked very familiar! I had to verify with her Twitter account to see if she tweeted anything about David's show. And to my surprise, she did tweet about David's show and I confronted her. This was Pam who I met on Twitter from the Boyce Avenue show. We never met in person yet until now. We talked for a bit and later we both got front row seats easily.

Showtime

The show started just after 8pm, and it started with Jeff LeBlanc opening the show for David Choi. He performed his originals and a few covers. His set lasted for about 45 minutes. During his set, I took a few pictures to test out the lighting and a way to warm up to taking pictures before David gets on stage later that night.David finally hits the stage a little after 9pm, and he comes out to a roar of cheers from his fans. During this show, he performed a total of eleven originals and no covers. There is no complaints from me. I just wished he came back out to do an encore performance.As mentioned earlier, this show during his Foreverand Ever tour is really special because it was his birthday, and he turns 26 years old. Three quarters through his show, the Jammin Java crew brought out a cake as a surprise for David. He was completely not expecting it and did not see it coming. The crowd sang happy birthday to him. He then returned a favor and sang happy birthday to all the people that has the same birthday as him. Earlier in the show, he also gave away two free white Skunk Juice earbuds to the crowd. The first one he tossed out into a fan frenzy crowd that almost killed each other for the free earbuds. For the second pair of earbuds, the last person that tweeted to him and Skunk Juice won the earbuds. It was pretty cool. Near the end of the show, David takes a video of the crowd cheering. This time I'm glad I was in a good spot where I would be int he video and pictures. As usual, David was really funny and entertaining on stage and had a great performance with a full band.

To see the performances from the show, click on the links below. If you'd prefer to see David's show and set from beginning to end, click on the embedded video.

Post-Show

After the show, I started to pack up my camera and camcorder gear then went to stand in line to see David in the meet and great. This line seemed like it was everlasting and so long! It took about 45 minutes until I finally get close enough to see his merchandise stand. Once it was my turn, I personally wished him a happy birthday and asked him to sign my copy of the "Forever and Ever" album and disc. I then pulled out an 8x10" picture of me and David from his show two years ago to get it signed. He asked how old I was when this picture was taken, and I said I was 28 years old. He said that was really cool and signed it. Before I left, I asked him for a picture, so he asked Phil Chao to take the picture for me since I went by myself. Phil did a great job taking the picture! I wish he could come to all the shows I go to haha! People usually either take a picture of me too small, too blurry, or not the way I want it. He took like three pictures just in case one or two of them were bad. I didn't get home until mid-night and that was my day at David Choi's birthday show :). Thank you, David for coming back to Jammin Java! Come back again next year! I also took a lot of great pictures from the show. To see them, click on the collage or the link below.

If you're interested to know more about David Choi and would like hear more music by him, please do check out his website below. As always, go out and support them by going to their shows and buying their music.